LSU-Florida postponed: "We would have done anything to play the game"

Billy Embody

10/06/2016

A decision has been made and LSU-Florida has been postponed according to the SEC release. While work was done to try to play the game, the efforts weren't enough.

LSU's football game against Florida that was scheduled for Saturday at 11 am CT has been postponed indefinitely according to an SEC release on Thursday. The game could be rescheduled, but that's unlikely according to sources.

LSU had offered Florida planes, buses and lodges earlier in the week so the Gators could have anything they needed to play the game at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge sources told both Tiger Blitz and Fightin' Gators. Florida said no thanks and on Thursday, the SEC, LSU and Florida announced the game being postponed. In LSU's release, the university did say cancelled.

"There has been no conversation with anybody, at all, about rescheduling the game," Joe Alleva said on Thursday after the postponed game was announced.

Alleva said that all attempts were made to play the game.

"All I could do is offer opportunities and plead and beg and try to make it happen. We would have done anything to play the game," Alleva said. "Their whole concern was safety. There was no police. I'm sympathetic to what they were saying."

Florida said on Wednesday in a statement that no plans were being made to move the game out of Gainesville. On Thursday, UF said the game was still on as scheduled, but that was before the conference call with the three parties.

As UF closed its campus until further notice and SECNation announced their broadcast would not be happening at UF on Saturday, it looked more and more bleak that the game was not to be played at least at its scheduled times.

Sources told Scout that an attempt was made to play on Sunday, but that was short-lived. In the end, postponing the game was what the schools and Southeastern Conference settled on.

Florida AD Jeremy Foley addressed the media on Thursday and said no other options were explored outside of Gainesville in terms of location. Foley said it was about bigger things other than football.

"Money was not the issue. Resources in Gainesville are stretched already. There are far more important issues being discussed," Foley said.

This is the second LSU game to be cancelled in as many seasons. LSU's home opener against McNeese State was cancelled last year after multiple lightning delays.

If LSU were to win out, a 6-1 SEC record versus a 7-1 SEC record of say, Alabama, would not get LSU to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game, per an SEC bylaw.

Orgeron said that he was "very well briefed" on the situation throughout the week and Orgeron said that the team will go to work and hope that LSU can do what they need to do to make it to where the team wants to go. How they get to Atlanta though is something Orgeron's not worried about.

"We've just got to take care of the task at hand. That's something out of our hands. This football team will be ready to play," Orgeron said.

LSU players will have the weekend off and the staff will be out recruiting this weekend due to the postponement.

Stay tuned to Tiger Blitz for more reaction to LSU-Florida being postponed.